The Beginning (JYJ album)
Encyclopedia
The Beginning is the debut studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n pop group JYJ
JYJ
JYJ is a three-member pop group, formed by three members of the South Korean boyband TVXQ: Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu. Their group name is taken from the first letters of each members' names....

, formed by three of the five original members of TVXQ
TVXQ
TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...

. It is the group's first English release, after their 2010 Japanese language extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 The...
The...
The... is the debut extended play by South Korean boyband JYJ , a group formed of three of the five members of TVXQ. It was released in Japanese language under Rhythm Zone, the band's former Japanese label as a part of TVXQ...

. It was released on October 14, 2010 through Warner
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...

.

Two weeks before the release of the album in South Korea, 50,000 copies of the regular edition had been pre-ordered and pre-sales for the 99,999 copies of the special edition of The Beginning reached numbers of 400,000 requests.

The album was released on November 16, 2010 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 as a digital download, however a wider release is planned by the group in early 2011.

Background and development

Despite the album being sung in English, Jaejoong and Junsu were not fluent in English at the time of recording, and were still attending English lessons at the time of the album's release in America.

Promotion

The first single from the album was "Ayyy Girl," featuring Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

 and Malik Yusef. The song had moderate success in South Korea, peaking at #19 on Gaon's single charts. The music video for the album's second single, "Empty," will be shot in December. The song debuted at #18 in Korea during the album's release, due to strong digital sales.

The band toured Asia in October and November 2010 in promotion of the album. This began with two showcases in Seoul on October 12, at the 11,000 seating Hwaseong Tiger Dome at Korea University
Korea University
Korea University is a prestigious nonsectarian, private research university located primarily in Seoul, South Korea, and one of the SKY universities, a historical acronym used in South Korea to refer to Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. Founded by Lee Yong-ik in...

. The tickets for these events sold out in 15 minutes, and a portion of the profits was donated to World Vision
World Vision
World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...

. The band planned concerts in the United States in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

 and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, however were denied P1 visa
P visa
A P visa is a type of temporary employment visa of the United States, granted to alien athletes, artists, and entertainers, and their spouses and children. The term "P" refers to 8 U.S.C...

s for these concerts. In response to this, the group performed free showcases on these dates and refunded ticket purchasers. JYJ's management, C-JeS Entertainment, was unsure of the reason for the visa denial. The band's other planned US dates in Seattle, San Francisco and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 were later cancelled. 6,400 people attended the New York showcase, despite the venue being able to hold 3,400 people.

The band was featured in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine's release of the week in November, the first time an international act has been featured. This led to the magazine's website receiving its highest daily traffic day recorded, as of 2010.

Legal injunction

The band members' previous record label as the band TVXQ
TVXQ
TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...

, SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment
S.M. Entertainment is an independent Korean record label, talent agency, producer, and publisher of pop music, founded by Lee Soo-man in South Korea...

, filed an injunction against the sales of the album on October 8. However, South Korean digital retailers defied the request, and proceeded with the sales on October 14. The injunction was issued due the South Korean courts not having reached a verdict on the members' ongoing court case with SM Entertainment. in December 2010 they were successful in their lawsuit against SM Entertainment.

Track listing

Album chart positions

Chart Peak
position
South Korea Gaon Chart 1
South Korea Gaon Chart monthly 1
Japan Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

11


Reported sales

Chart Amount
Japanese physical sales 62,000
South Korean sales 293,000
Worldwide sales 520,000


*Sales figure is based on South Korean imports of the album, as the album has not been released domestically in Japan currently.

Release history

Region Date Format Distributing Label
South Korea CD, digital download Warner
Warner
- Surname :* Albert Warner , one of the founders of Warner Bros. Studios* Amelia Warner , British actress* Amy Warner , soccer player who graduated from the University of Notre Dame...

"Luxury Package" CD
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Digital download Show Shop
South Korea Re-released CD Warner
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